Congress
Timely troop pay is now in Trump’s hands
President Donald Trump is now the only person with the power to keep 1.3 million active-duty military members from missing their paychecks Wednesday after the Senate failed to act on spending legislation Thursday then left Washington for the long holiday weekend.
If all active-duty troops are not paid on time, it would be a first in U.S. history.
Trump, however, has publicly assured servicemembers several times now that they will get their pay regardless of the shutdown. White House officials have been reviewing options to shift funding around to avoid the pay lapse, and many Republicans on Capitol Hill believe Trump will intervene — even amid questions about the legality of the move.
But senior Hill Republicans are arguing they need to let troop pay lapse in order to demonstrate the real consequences of Senate Democrats blocking the short-term spending bill the House passed last month, according to four people granted anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes strategic conversations.
If Democrats can make it through the Oct. 15 troop pay deadline without feeling overwhelming political consequences, the shutdown will drag on for weeks, those Republicans argue.
Many congressional Republicans have pushed their leaders to pass a standalone bill allowing troop checks to go out, but those leaders are holding firm against it — leaving intervention by Trump as the only other way to pay troops at this point. House GOP leaders have no plans to try to pass troop pay legislation led by Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) by unanimous consent during the House’s pro forma session Friday, according to three people granted anonymity to describe plans.
Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier this week that Monday is the real cutoff point for a decision given the Pentagon’s payroll process. Now with both chambers out of town until after that deadline, it’s up to Trump.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, asked in a brief interview Thursday night about the troop pay, replied with exasperation: “Open up the government.” As far as the options Trump officials have been discussing, Thune said he’s been “talking constantly” with the White House but wasn’t aware of Trump’s latest statement on the matter.
Thune made clear earlier this week he didn’t believe such a vote was necessary, jumping in after Johnson seemed open to the idea when the two appeared together at a news conference. Thune has floated trying to move a stand-alone Defense Department funding bill, but that would take buy-in from Democrats and wouldn’t be passed before the paycheck deadline.
Johnson has since closed the door to the possibility of a stand-alone troop pay bill.
“We’ve had that vote,” Johnson told Fox News Friday morning. “And now they realize the real consequences, I think the House Democrats have realized the real consequences of what they’ve done. And it’s shameful.”
Benjamin Guggenheim contributed to this report.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he wants to clinch a bipartisan Department of Homeland Security funding agreement Thursday.
“I think the Dems are now in possession of what I think is our last and final” offer, Thune told reporters. “So let’s hope this gets it done.”
“We’re going to know soon,” he added.
The South Dakota Republican declined to discuss details of the offer but suggested it was similar to where the discussions were headed over the weekend. GOP senators then were looking at a bipartisan deal that would fund most of DHS but leave out funding for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations.
That offer was rejected by Democrats. But two people granted anonymity to discuss the revised proposal said it, too, omitted only ERO money but included additional language to try to address some of Democrats’ concerns.
Spokespeople for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Senate is expected to vote again on the House-passed DHS bill Thursday afternoon. The House is also voting again on DHS funding Thursday and is planning to leave town Friday morning for a two-week holiday recess. Progress in the Senate could prompt House GOP leaders to stay in session in hopes of sending a bill to President Donald Trump.
Asked about the Senate vote, Thune said he hoped there would be “some finality in this real soon.”
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins joined the House Problem Solvers Caucus lunch Thursday to talk about the stalled Homeland Security funding effort and proposals to overhaul federal immigration enforcement activities.
“I think everyone is pretty frustrated at this point,” the Maine Republican said in an interview after the bipartisan meeting.
The centrist group, which extended the invitation to Collins, talked through the pain points on finding a path out of the DHS shutdown that has stretched more than 40 days and is triggering massive air travel disruptions. The conversation comes ahead of a House vote later Thursday on funding DHS, where moderates are looking to break the impasse.
Meredith Lee Hill, Jordain Carney and Riley Rogerson contributed to this report.
As House Republicans start to dream big about another party-line bill, one key member who voted down the last GOP reconciliation bill is warning his colleagues not to count on his support.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) referenced his vote last summer against the “big, beautiful bill” in an interview Thursday and suggested he was prepared to oppose another GOP-only bill if it, too, includes spending cuts he opposes to social programs.
“You saw what I did on the first reconciliation bill,” Fitzpatrick said. Fitzpatrick and just one more House Republican could be enough to tank a party-line package given Speaker Mike Johnson’s slim majority.
Still, many of Fitzpatrick’s colleagues are making plans for an expansive new GOP-only bill that would include more money for Homeland Security operations, Iran war funding and other cost-of-living priorities, while demanding it be fully offset with spending cuts — possibly from social programs targeted for “fraud prevention.”
“You never say ‘never’ at anything, but I’m never a fan of single-party bills,” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s just my approach to government.”
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